Coming off a pair of positive race finishes in their Pirelli World Challenge debut, driver John Allen and the GTS-class No. 16 SGV Motorsports/Bilt Racing Service Porsche Cayman S, and sponsors ITEC (www.TeamITEC.com) and Fahrenheit IT, are primed for more success this weekend in the Pirelli World Challenge DeVilbiss Road America Grand Prix.
Allen made his first-ever professional race starts nearly two months ago in a double-header Pirelli World Challenge weekend at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama. At the wheel of the No. 16 SGV Motorsports/Bilt Racing Service Porsche Cayman S, Allen finished 18th in the ultra-competitive GTS class in both 50-minute sprint races during the Barber weekend.
In addition to finishing both races in his pro debut – a feat several veteran competitors could not pull off – Allen improved all weekend at Barber. His second and final race on Saturday was the best, posting a lead-lap finish and his fastest race lap of the weekend at 1:34.814 (90.366 mph).
“I felt the team worked very well together at Barber,” Allen said. “We learned some things to refine our procedures which will serve us well moving forward. I had the opportunity to test at Road America for the first time last month and I love the track. I am very excited for my next race to be there and I'll be ready to go.”
In addition to Allen’s debut, the Barber weekend was also the first in Pirelli World Challenge for both SGV Motorsports and Bilt Racing Service (BRS), which built, engineered and maintains the team’s Cayman S. In addition to this weekend’s DeVilbiss Grand Prix at Road America, the team’s 2015 racing plans with Allen also include the upcoming Pirelli World Challenge races at Miller Motorsports Park and Sonoma Raceway.
“What we learned the most at Barber that will help us heading into Road America was in the areas of operations and procedures,” BRS Team Manager Pawel Bulka said. “We have a lot of collective experience individually but took a big step in working together for John as a team. That obviously helps him and our overall operation, and it will only get better at Road America.”
Allen’s first look and laps at Road America came in the No. 16 Cayman S during a Porsche Club of America (PCA) event weekend exactly one month ago.
“I drove in the PCA DE event at Road America, May 22 – 24, with support from BRS. I developed a comfort level and basic understanding of the line, and I think I am capable of running some fast laps there. I’ll be working with Dave Redszus from Precision AutoResearch, analyzing car and track data. Both BRS and PAR have lots of experience at Road America. That was my first visit to Wisconsin and I love the people and the area.”
Bulka and his BRS teammates are already well familiar with Road America and the surrounding region. Based in the greater Chicago area, BRS, like so many Windy City teams, considers Road America a home track.
“As a group, we know Road America very, very well,” Bulka said. “Road America may be one state away but this is without question a home track, and always has been, for anybody that operates their racing business out of Chicago.”
Allen and the BRS team took full advantage of the nearly two-month span between Barber and this weekend’s event at Road America.
“Since the Barber race in late April, I’ve been working on driver development and car setup with the BRS team and my coach, Jon Berry,” Allen said. “I have tested at four more new tracks for me, Circuit of the Americas, Watkins Glen and Laguna Seca, in addition to Road America. I also tested at Sears Point in Sonoma where I have some experience, one of the tracks on which we will race later in the season.”
One of the first things Allen learned about Road America was its faster pace than Barber.
“Road America has a nice flow to it and it is very fast, much faster than Barber,” Allen said. “You have to pay attention, especially coming through the kink. My car’s awesome braking ability will serve me well there.”
The SGV/BRS team stands out in Pirelli World Challenge competition as the team’s Cayman S races with a PDK “dual clutch” transmission, not an everyday occurrence in major league motorsports. The PDK performed flawlessly at Barber and Allen and the team expect the same stellar performance at Road America.
“Road America will be another strong challenge for the PDK transmission but it performed well in testing and no doubt will in the race,” Bulka said. “These units come very well prepared from the factory, they are engineered to be very durable, but we still look forward to continuing the development of the PDK.”
Another double-header weekend, the DeVilbiss Grand Prix features GTS-class races on Saturday at 3:40 p.m. CDT and Sunday at 11:10 a.m. CDT. Live streaming of all races is available at www.World-ChallengeTV.com with live timing available on www.World-Challenge.com. The Road America GTS races will air on the CBS Sports Network on Wednesday, July 8, at 9 p.m. EDT.
